If you want educators to use research, you might reconsider your approach to producing research. Researchers often lament the divide between education research and practice, sometimes implying that practitioners should pay more heed to published research findings. In the US, education research production in universities and research organisations is too often isolated from the education practice in state education agencies, district central offices, schools and classrooms. The twain meet, but just barely. A researcher may use a set of schools as a data source, but then discuss results and the design of the next study mainly with other researchers.

Gold open access is becoming an increasingly popular choice for articles, and article processing charges (APCs) are the dominant business model for funding them. The importance of tracking and reporting APCs grows as they become a larger part of the cost of research. Institutions are expected to record APCs to manage payments and plan their budget, and funders use that reporting in order to know how their money is spent and to assess compliance.

The story of Sci-Hub continues to grind. Portrayed by its founder as an insurgency based on economic necessity, the theft and posting of millions of scholarly articles and entire books, scraping and republication of major academic sites, and filching of an unknown number of academic login credentials represents potential economic harm on a scale we've not seen before in our industry. It's a bombshell that seems to be exploding a little more each week, as instances of hacking of academic institutions and analyses of the effects on publishers emerge.

The New England Journal of Medicine is arguably the best-known and most venerated medical journal in the world. Studies featured in its pages are cited more often, on average, than those of any of its peers. And the careers of young researchers can take off if their work is deemed worthy of appearing in it. But following a series of well-publicized feuds with prominent medical researchers and former editors of the Journal, some are questioning whether the publication is slipping in relevancy and reputation.

The Chinese academic publishing industry is booming. In recent years, China has paid more and more attention to academic publishing, with companies publishing works that feature new ideas and old traditions. Indeed, the Chinese government itself has recognised that the quality of academic publishing reflects the country's technological development as a whole.